Some of my favourite standby cloud tools I use to share my learning are Weebly, Google+ and Prezi. I would definitely use these cloud tools to instruct, engage and inspire my students. I think they are easy to use and allow students to focus more on the task at hand rather than struggling to learn a new tool before being able to present their learning and thoughts. I would encourage my students to create an e-portfolio using Weebly to show the process of their learning and connections to learning outcomes.
One of the ways I collaborate with my colleagues is through Skype. This tool allows users to communicate with peers by voice using microphone, webcam and instant messaging over the Internet. Skype is a powerful educational tool that connects students to each other, to their teachers and to communities throughout the world. Another way to collaborate with peers is through Google docs. This works particularly well if there are more than two people in the collaborative group and they can’t all meet at the same time. Each person’s thoughts are shared in the mutual document and all can see changes made to the document. I have two tools I enjoy using to organize my research, thoughts and ideas and those are Pinterest and Google +. Both allow me to quickly and easily organize categories of items and share immediately with those following my boards and in my circles. Both of these options would be great for students as well as they are very user friendly and well known to most students so the likelihood of them already having accounts for both tools is very high. Edmodo allows teachers to create assignments for assessment, place them on a calendar, and have their students submit their assignments electronically all in one place. Alerts can also be sent to students to remind them of assignments that are coming due or past due. Teachers can then also return assignments to students with feedback attached. What I like about this tool is that it offers both a place for students to submit work and also for the teachers to return marked assignments with feedback attached. When needing to connect and inquire with students I could use a number of tools to do so. I could use standard email; perhaps respond directly on their piece if it’s via a blog or other common post area that allows comments, I could even share a VoiceThread with them. Indeed using these tools would improve the learning experience for my students as they would be given choices of how to show their learning and there are plenty of tools available and acceptable to use. It also makes learning available to them when they are ready. Having the ability to use asynchronous tools such as Google docs to collaborate with their peers allows them to do so during a time that is appropriate for them. They won’t feel forced to sit and learn when the teachers says it’s time to learn. Perhaps a drawback could be that some students won’t be familiar with many of these tools and will need extra support and guidance to learn the tool before even starting their original learning intention. However, most students these days are very adaptable and excited to learn when it comes to using technology and would be eager to use a new learning tool. |
AuthorTracy is a teacher in School District 79 (Cowichan Valley) on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She graduated from Vancouver Island University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education and English as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Education. She is currently completing an Online Learning and Teaching Diploma and a Masters in Leadership. Archives
November 2014
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Voices of OLTD 505
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Learning Blog
Here you will find a blog of my learning that is happening in the OLTD program at VIU.
Photo used under Creative Commons from jillyspoon